CHAPTER 2 #2
He was married—an institution he’d always kept at arm’s length after a disastrous engagement his first year of med school.
Since then, Bryce saw commitment as a vulnerability, and he’d sworn never to be that exposed again.
He lived by his ‘no strings attached’ policy.
No risk. Just temporary flings and easy exits.
And now?
Now those strings were wrapped around him… in a way he didn’t exactly mind.
When his boarding section was finally called, he stood and stretched, his muscles stiff from tension. What he wouldn’t give for a long run to clear his head.
Moving down the narrow aisle, Bryce came to a stop at their row.
With a low chuckle at her startled expression, he folded his athletic frame into the seat beside her.
He didn’t miss the way she stiffened, or how her eyes darted to the aisle—like she was hoping someone else might take the seat instead.
“Sorry. Hoping to get away from me?” he asked, settling in.
“Oh, uh… I just hoped to sleep during the flight.”
“Don’t let me stop you. We can talk once we’re back in Colorado Springs. You like coffee, right?”
“No… well, yes, I love coffee, but I can’t go tonight. Actually,” she lowered her voice and glanced around the plane, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to go out and drink coffee together at all… ever.”
“Eric is sitting in first class,” Bryce whispered, catching her concern. “Since we can talk freely, want to tell me why you don’t think we should ever drink coffee together?”
“It’s pretty obvious, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think the answer is obvious. And I don’t think it would be a bad idea. If we go out, people aren’t going to assume we got married in Vegas. At most, they’d think we like each other—or maybe that we’re dating. Would that be so bad?”
“YES! I’d rather not be linked to you at all.”
Beth was clearly flustered.
“It’s just... you know why. It’s humiliating.”
“Being with me is humiliating, or the situation is?”
His insecurity was obvious, and it tugged at Beth’s heartstrings.
“Not you, really. More the situation—and how I’d feel being seen with you.
You know how fast gossip spreads. If people saw us together, they’d know something happened in Vegas.
Everyone at the hospital has their sights set on you.
Crystal is a great example of that. We’d be the talk of the hospital for months.
And after everything that’s happened… I. ..”
She trailed off, unsure how to finish.
“I get it,” he said. “But like it or not, we are married. So regardless of what people will say—if they find out—we need to talk about it. Pretending it didn’t happen won’t make it go away.”
“I have plans tonight to see my parents” Beth said firmly, inching closer to the window—away from him, and more specifically, away from the tantalizing scent of his cologne.
All of a sudden, it was all she could smell. She’d secretly loved it for years, and now it felt unfair that something so familiar and comforting could make her feel so off balance.
Bryce leaned closer, his voice low and husky. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to hug the window. I won’t jump you here on the plane. I promise—I’m sober.”
A crooked smile tugged up the corners of his mouth, and despite everything that had happened, his flirty words and familiar charm made Beth want to smile in return. She fought it off, determined not to give him the satisfaction.
“Did you know that when you try not to smile, your dimples get deeper?”
She let out a reluctant chuckle and eased her grip on the armrest. She even scooted towards him. Just a little.
“That’s better. Now… about tonight.”
“I really do have plans.”
“I believe you. But I also believe that if we don’t make plans now, I won’t get another chance to talk to you any time soon.”
Beth turned to him, considering his words. She hated to admit it, but he was right, if she didn’t agree to a time to meet with him now, she would put it off as long as possible.
“You’re right,” she admitted quietly. “As tempting as it is to pretend this never happened, we can’t.
We have to figure out what to do next. But until we know if I’m.
.. well, you know... we don’t even know whether this is something we can erase with an annulment or if we’ll have to go through an actual divorce.
It’s like everything hinges on something I can’t even say out loud yet. ”
“We could discuss the possibility of staying married. While I never planned to marry, I swore if I did, I’d never get a divorce—especially if kids were involved,” Bryce said pensively.
Feeling slightly attacked, Beth responded in kind, her voice clipped and defensive.
“Yeah, well, divorce was never in my plans either. I swore I’d save myself for marriage—and that I’d never marry someone who wasn’t a Christian.”
She gave in to the swirl of emotion, brushing past the logic that told her he hadn’t meant it as an accusation.
Frustrated, Bryce ran a hand through his hair. “You’re not the only one whose plans got ruined.”
He studied her face, deciding not to point out that, technically, she had saved herself for marriage. Instead, he focused on what had been stirring in his heart since the hotel room.
He hesitated just a beat, his jaw tightening before he spoke again—quieter now, his voice slipping into that calm, steady bedside tone he used with anxious patients. The one that reassured without pushing, inspired confidence without pressure. The one that could smooth ruffled feathers.
“I know this probably isn’t what you want to hear right now,” he said, his gaze steady on her, “but I want to make this work.”
“What? No!”
Beth’s voice rang out far louder than she intended, drawing several curious glances from nearby passengers. Her cheeks flushed as she quickly shook her head, emphatically dismissing the idea.
“Bryce, I don’t see that happening.”
Her response came too fast, too sharp—and the sting of it lingered. It wasn’t just the idea of staying married she was rejecting. It felt personal. Like she was rejecting him.
But deep down, she knew the truth: she was trying to smother that small, buried hope. The one that whispered maybe—just maybe—being married to her secret crush could actually work.
He nodded slowly, accepting her where she was, not where he wished she’d be.
“Let me come with you.”
“Where?”
“To your parents’. Let me come. Let me help you explain what happened.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, that’s not a good idea.”
“Why not? Don’t you think they’ll want to meet me?”
“Probably. But not by showing up with no warning, knocking on the door and saying, ‘Hey, Mom and Dad, meet your new son-in-law.’ I can’t think of a worse way to tell them.”
“Is your dad the type to hit first and ask questions later?”
Beth took a moment to really look at the man sitting beside her, at his wavy brown hair and beautiful chocolate-colored eyes.
Khakis and a button-down shirt gave him a look that straddled the line between professional and casual.
His build was strong—athletic without being bulky.
She blushed slightly, thinking that she now knew why his dress shirts hung so well on his frame.
His abs were chiseled into a six-pack, his shoulders sculpted. He hadn’t let his body go soft in the decade since he was a linebacker on his college football team.
Then she mentally pictured her dad—tall, wiry, with thinning brown hair and the limbs of an overgrown spider monkey.
The image of her dad trying to lunge at Bryce with a music stand or smack him over the head with a violin sent a giggle bubbling up.
The stress of the day pushed it into full-blown laughter.
By the time the beverage service came, she had tears streaming down her face and a bewildered doctor sitting beside her.
Finally catching her breath, she assured him he didn’t need to worry about getting hit. She didn’t try to explain away her sudden outburst.
Still, she insisted that just showing up together wasn’t the right way to tell them.
“I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it,” Bryce said finally. “But will you call me afterwards? Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“No matter how late?”
“Fine. I’ll call tonight. No matter the time.”
Beth leaned back with a sigh, brushing strands of raven hair from her face. She closed her eyes for a moment—needing the silence and sleep.
Then Bryce cleared his throat. “In light of our day, this might be the most awkward part of it.”
Beth didn’t bother opening her eyes. “What?”
He gave a soft, amused laugh. “Realizing we exchanged vows… without exchanging numbers.”
Without a word, Beth unlocked her phone and handed it to him.
While Bryce entered his number, she leaned back and let her eyes fall shut, a small smile tugging at her lips.
“Whirlwind romance at its finest,” she murmured.
Then, finally, she surrendered to the sleep her body craved.